storing wine?

[DVDad]

I recently purchased a 2001 vintage Merlot.
It was probably the best wine I have had. However, I can find no more 2001. The 2002 is simply not as good. If I purchase a 2002 vintage and store it for a year or two will it have some of the some characteristics I enjoyed in the 2001.

Obviously I'm a novice

[hotwine]

Welcome to the board, DVD. Unfortunately, there's no guanantee that a properly-stored '02 will morph into a wonderful '01; every vintage is different, and develops differently in bottle. You can only hope... buy a few of the '02 and sample at intervals of six months or so. With luck, you'll wish you had bought more. Or not; you could wind up grateful you hadn't mortgaged the farm the buy the total production. That's the addiction that ensnares us all.

[DVDad]

Thank you for your prompt and courteous reply.

[wineguruchgo]

DVDad,

That is the beauty/frustrating thing about wine. People will say the same thing about 1997 - absolutely spectacular. Actually, in the distribution world, we have compared 01' to 97' and all our customers know what we are taking about.

When comparing vintages it's wise to know that the best producers produce the best wines even in bad years. Yet if you must know that the 01' vintage in California was rated outstanding for Cabernet, but not for Merlot. I would buy what you can now and wait it out a bit. The 02' from both Napa and Sonoma were rated higher than the 01'.

Oh, the glory/frustration of different vintages!

[wineguruchgo]

PS - when the 02's start to arrive I would lay them down for a few weeks. Wines going across the globe/country encounter bottle shock for a few weeks. Let them relax before you open them.

Cheers!